The winner of many prestigious awards for composition, Samuel Adler is also Professor emeritus at the Eastman School of Music. His Canto series was written to meet the challenge of providing concert etudes for every orchestral instrument. This program presents the complete Cantos for solo string instruments, exploring the great possibilities in each instrument from virtuoso feats to lyrical poignancy, 'moody' pensiveness to sharply observed wit and humor. The duet Close Encounters expresses ecstatic feelings of love, while the string trio Five Snapshots reflects contrasting scenes of nature. Samuel Adler's Of Musique and a selection of other chamber works can be found on Naxos 8.559602. His Fifth Symphony can be heard on 8.559415.

American Record Guide, September/October 2013Samuel Adler (b 1928) was born in Mannheim, Germany and came to the US at the age of 11. He studied with Copland, Hindemith, Piston, and Randall Thomson and has held posts at Eastman and Juilliard. He is one of our most active and most professional composers. His musical idiom covers the area between tonality and atonality, and his writing for instruments is virtuosic and expressive. The performers are fine players and interpret the continually changing styles of these pieces to great effect. When they join forces in the duo and trio, their contrasting origins are buried in a fine sense of playing chamber music together. This shows what a melting pot our country can be in fine music.